Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Policy research
framework steer academics to some rare circumstances and which can be described
as opportunities. Besides being able to engage the policy makers in formal
situations such as scheduled public lectures, inaugural and valedictory
address, panel discussions and even book releases; a few experts such as this
author do get to meet the top policy makers and select constitutional heads to
meet in private. It is not uncommon to find that the academics and policy
analysts get caught in the complex political push and pulls and that is risk
they bear to hold their ground firm so to speak.

‘PM ne chai pe bulaya
hai’, match this rhythmically with a popular song among the teenage girls
‘daddy ne chai pe bulaya hai’ – a daavatnama.
Six in the evening of the publication of an OPED – (attached), this author was
high on ‘tea’ with the UPA-PM at 7 Racecourse Road. Gripping conversation with
a person of convection, ideologically inclusive, highly motivated, visionary
and appreciative of what he read in the morning Times of India on October 10, 2004.
This date is the origin of now popular Sachar Committee. Most important practical
message of ‘this tea-party’ was that
Muslim community must find-a-spot of their own in the local socio-political and
economic space through mainstream involvement while government acts as a
facilitator. There were many more
occasions since then to meet the PM in private, exchange views and policy
approaches to favor development of Muslims in India.

This reputation also
attracted the attention of the President and current Vice President of the
Indian National Congress; had the privilege of privately meeting, briefing and making
presentations on the issues of human development, poverty alleviation and
inclusive development paradigm for India. Commendations must be made as to
immense desire to know, understand and articulate policy responses to ensure
physical security to India minorities especially the Muslims and Christians. An
evidence can be found in organizing a draft a ‘targeted violence and bill’ by
the ‘national advisory council’ (http://nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb.pdf & http://nac.nic.in/pdf/explanatory_note.pdf); and the
author was on their advisory committee to deliberate, debate and articulate a
policy framework during 2009-2011. For an
opposing view of this bill read: https://sites.google.com/site/rammadhav/communal-violence-bill. What is
appreciated about these leaders is there strong desire to know, understand and
take reasonable actions on policy advice. However, often such actions face
failure due to larger socio-political opposition as well as deficit in ‘the
number game’ that the Indian Parliament has become to be characteristic; almost
as if in the United State of America – the razor thin margins. Note that the Indian
Prime Minster does not a right to veto as is the case of the President of
United States.

It was in 1999 that the
author published a landmark monograph through the Oxford University Press. The
relative positions in human development were brought to the knowledge of the
people at large according to the socio-religious communities; with data at the
level of India and all major state. The human
development profile of the Muslims for the first time in the history of India
was compared with other religious and social groups and the finding were
debated more at the level of the media.
The government was not enthusiastic but it did not hamper or tried to
stop the publication of the book itself; although the research itself was
conducted on behalf of the National Planning Commission. It was during this period, the then NDA-PM
would argue with the author that communities will develop only when women were
educated and empowered. A bachelor PM believer in gender equality, although
this position was divergent with the party and associated ideologies which he
represented. It appears often individual beliefs and philosophical undertones
matter in policy formulations, as is evident from both the above citations of
the authors experience with the Prime Ministers. This NDA-PM indeed inaugurated
many conferences including an international on Gender and Poverty which was
organized by the author in 2004. During this period, on many occasions this
author was invited for private by many cabinet ministers (including human
resources ministry, home ministry, finance ministry), and the National Security
Council of India.

It was early 2013 that the
author delivered a lecture at Ahmedabad to a select group of Muslim business
men organized by institutions promoting entrepreneurship, backward and forward
market linkages: http://www.clusterpulse.org/ & http://www.globalnetworkindia.com/.
This was also the time when a meeting was organized with the Chancellor of the
‘Gujarat Vidya Peeth’ an university established by Mahatma Gandhi himself at
Ahmedabad. The author is familiar with Gujarat as he worked at Ahmedabad
between 1988-1994. It was during this
visit and a result of the media coverage, a special request came - ‘CM ne chai pe bulaya hai’. As professional and policy expert especially
in the context of Sachar Committee, it was a responsibility to positively
respond and exchange ideas and advise the constitutionally backed-elected
representative of a state. It was in
this meeting a discussion happened as to why the Muslim community would value
education relatively less than other communities. There was no easy answer to
this query; it is too complex – such as serious demand and supply issues, quality,
type and language of education are too prominent and they are not easy to
address especially in fast changing political ideologies at the grassroots
level. An important dimension of social life that was agreed in this meeting, to
be important was the need for participation of communities including the
Muslims in the local panchayats and municipalities. This advise was appreciated
and in the context of soon to be conducted panchayat elections in Gujarat.

The privately invited
meeting with the current Chief Minister of Karnataka yielded a highly positive
bureaucratic response; so was the case with the two erstwhile Chief Ministers
of Andhra Pradesh who made commitments to increase annual budgets favoring the
Muslims in grand public meetings organize at the Jubilee Hall. These
commitments were indeed found to be put in action subsequently about which the
communities in Hyderabad and other areas in the undivided Andhra Pradesh
appreciated. The Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka political systems are favorable
to the cause of Muslims and they are amply heralded through a number of policy
actions including Acts of the State Assemblies.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra for example expressed a special
mention to send him my policy papers for closer scrutiny and assimilation.
There have also been occasions when a State Chief Minister was at logger head
abusing and accusing this author in public such as during television
interviews, and that was before the last state elections in West Bengal
although there is evidence to the fact a 10 % quota reservations was announced
by him on an earlier occasion soon after a mass-public lecture of this author
on the streets of Kolkata.

Not the least, the brush
with the most recent (Ex) Chief Minister of Delhi has been more on par as
members of International Committees on finding alternative solutions to
Indian’s high incidence of poverty and low levels of human development. The National Planning Commission organized
and United National Development Program supported committees on assessing impact
of ‘direct cash transfers’ in India.
Often such events are debating-tables, including rhetorical and high
emotions but then the data and analysis becomes handy to ensure unsubstantiated
views are suppressed. It was on such occasions that author received concurrence
support of this Ex CM of Delhi endorsing this author’s point-of-view and
evidence. Such support structures are essential in policy circles and policy
debates that do take place in a formal – structured environment.

Key Note
Presentation at the Opening Session of the Global
Donor’s Forum – 2014: ‘Celebrating
Philanthropy in Emerging Economies’; held at Gaylord National Resorts and
Convention Centre, Washington D. C.

April 14, 2014

Altruism with a purpose to
build communities through production ofpublic goodsis a philanthropic idea leading to national development.
Philanthropic spending puts additional pressure on the government to do
the right thing. Philanthropy therefore must focus attention issues and sectors
that matter to alleviate poverty and improve human security. Philanthropy must
undertake successful pilots which are often not undertaken by the government
systems; thus help in building expectations form the electorate.

Altruism – a virtue and a
traditional value and Generosity is an obligation. Altruism with a purpose to
build communities through production ofpublic goodsis a philanthropic idea leading to
development. While altruism may limit or
favour kin or close community, philanthropy goes beyond borders and recognizes
local problems around the world.

Philanthropy aims for lasting
change as opposed to Charity which focuses on immediate relief, although there
is certain degree of overlap. Philanthropic investments in social
infrastructure promoting education such as through public libraries, computer
education, legal education; health such as through maintaining water bodies, preventive
care; diversity and human rights.

Wealth Creation in newhi-techsectors
is promoting new types of mega-philanthropy at earlier ages, creating large
foundations. Yet major share of philanthropic funding may come from modestly
rich people for example, a recent study has found that about 4.2 per cent of
annual income is given in philanthropic donations amongst those with annual income
of over $100,000/year. Better still; those with annual income of less than
$100,000/year contribute much higher share of their income.

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens
can change the world. In fact it is the only thing that has…’ Margaret Mead

Philanthropy: Private Initiatives for public good with a focus on quality of life

Case Study –
Modern India:

Philanthropy is not
new to India:

a.Corporate
philanthropy: The Tatas vs The Birla is most discussed. Over 100 year
journey. They are differentiated through the approach ‘Neighbourhood Development’
Vs. Construction of Mega Temples. Can we call it White Vs. Black Philanthropy?

The
mechanism of moving around large amounts often unaccounted for through
religious (temple) trusts and religious endowments are most prevalent.

b.In India, giving to
the poor in general Vs. giving to poor kith and Kin

c.The left hand should
not know what the right hand gives – principle often generates humility but
precludes evaluation and measurement of development impact.

d.In the modern
context the legal bottlenecks galore. The Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCNRA)
emerged out of a fear against conversions, especially the rich missionary
tempting the poor Adivasis kind of arguments.

e.New age philanthropy:
Azim Premji’s focus on education; Rohini
and Nandan focus on sanitation. Such philanthropies are amenable for measurements
and evaluation and therefore transparent and generate durable impact. In India, in the health sector for example, philanthropic funding is
less than 1 per cent of the total government spend. Other sectors attract
little and there is lack of information and data.

f.Philanthropic spending puts additional pressure in
the government to do the right thing. Philanthropy must focussed attention to
the right issues and sectors, undertake successful pilots which are often not
undertaken by the government systems; and help in building expectations form
the electorate. The most recent examples are the way philanthropic funding
forced government to recognize the existence of HIV AIDS and enhance allocations for its
containment. Another example is the contribution of philanthropic donates in
eradication of Polio from the face of this earth.

g.Philanthropic
funding must therefore build successful pilots which can be scaled-up and replicated.

Data Needs for Evidence Based Policy Making:

Decentralized Approach will lead to better targeting,
coverage and efficiency
National State District Community groups Sample household Civil society institutions

orientedOrganize
occupation based production systems.Networking disparate entities to achieve a
common goal useful to all - is one way to establish inroads to modern
markets. Can bargain investments, infrastructure, credit and assured returns
to marketable goods and services.

Turning donations- in to jobs- in to networking & organization- in to enrolment & education- woman & child health- into economic opportunity- into Smiles ;)-

Collection
of Information * Data, records, talk topeople, case studies * Newspaper reportsOpinion making - debates, discussion groupsPolicy Influence - review, lay out future
directions, negotiate policy directionsReview Budgets on time and even before budget
presentations. Address the issue of 'where is the money'. Be a Watch Dog :
consistent monitoring of policy performance. Galvanize community to be
watchful.

My Profile

Abusaleh Shariff is Chief Scholar at the US-India Policy Institute, Washington DC (since 2012) and President, Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy, New Delhi (www.crddp.in). He Was a Chief Economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi (1994- 2012). He also worked as Senior Research Fellow at the. Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D C 2008 -10. He was advisor (under a committee setting) to the Indian Prime Minister during 2004-6 and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India during 2010-11 in the areas of inter-state relations and inclusive development policy reforms. Was on teaching assignments at various levels between 1973 to 1994. Was on teaching assignments at various levels between 1973 to 1994. He was nominated to the 13th (Indian) Finance Commission by the Finance Ministry, Government of India.